| “ | What is death but an obstacle to be overcome? There is no true death beneath the eternal night. | „ |
Helman Ghorst is a 
Vampire Counts Legendary Lord unit introduced in Total War: Warhammer with The Grim and the Grave DLC. In The Old World and Mortal Empires, he was one of the two Legendary Lord choices for Sylvania, along with Mannfred von Carstein. In Immortal Empires, he heads the 
Caravan of Blue Roses.
Description[ | ]
| “ | What is death but an obstacle to be overcome? There is no true death beneath the eternal night. | „ |
Helman Ghorst was once a man, yet that life was ripped from him by the uncaring vicissitudes of fate. The loss of his father and brothers to plague sent Ghorst into an obsessive madness; he began studying the black arts in the hope of returning his lost kith to life. Inevitably, he drew the attention of the Witch Hunter, von Kordon, and so abandoned Templehof and fled to Vargravia, taking the corpses of his brothers and father with him, determined to find a way to return them to life through Necromancy. It was here, forsaken in a corrupted land, that he attracted the attention of Mannfred von Carstein. Rather than killing Ghorst, the Count revealed further dark secrets to him, transforming Helman into something beyond the grief-maddened man from Templehof. Now, he is carried through the night on a bone-ridged cart, pulled not by horses, but by the brothers he so desperately wished to save – each a once-handsome farrier restored to a mockery of life, forced to stumble along at the head of their kin’s unloving host.
Attributes[ | ]
Wizard- ▲ Spellcaster: This unit can cast spells.
- ▲ Regeneration: Regeneration allows a unit to heal while in battle. Fire is known to harm this healing process, so be warned that flaming attacks will cause more damage to units with Regeneration.
Spells[ | ]
Character Abilities[ | ]
Active Abilities[ | ]
Campaign only[ | ]
Passive Abilities[ | ]
Campaign only[ | ]
Item Abilities[ | ]
Unique Items[ | ]
Mounts[ | ]
Helman Ghorst is always mounted at the start of the campaign of Immortal Empires
Campaign starting units[ | ]
The Old World & Mortal Empires[ | ]
Immortal Empires[ | ]
Lord effects[ | ]
- Immune to Plague attrition (Lord's army)
- Attribute: Immune to Contact Effects (Lord's army)
- Armour: +30 for Zombies and Crypt Ghouls units (Lord's army)
WH2[ | ]
- All units in Helman Ghorst's army receive poison attacks
- Armour: +15 for Zombies units (Lord's army)
WH1[ | ]
- All units in Helman Ghorst's army receive poison attacks
- Casualty replenishment rates: +20%
Character traits[ | ]
Personal trait[ | ]
Neophyte: The student thrives on heretical knowledge; dark foundations lead to darker, binding deliverance.
- Immune to Plague attrition (Lord's army)
- Attribute: Immune to Contact Effects (Lord's army)
- Armour: +30 for Zombies and Crypt Ghouls units (Lord's army)
Defeat trait[ | ]
Ghorst or Ghost?: Apparently death is merely an obstacle to be overcome; must be inconvenient, however.
- Enables poison attacks
Talent Tree[ | ]
- Helman's skill tree on TWWH Characters
- Skill Tree on TotalWarhammerPlanner
Strategy[ | ]
The following applies only to the Mortal Empires or The Old World campaigns:
- That Ghorst provides poison attacks to his entire army (when chosen as your first lord) is a huge boon that drastically improves the effectiveness of his army. It should be noted that poison does not stack, so units that have poison attacks already receive no benefit. Because they are balanced around the fact that they inflict poison, it is better to recruit units that do not innately have poison (as they will receive the benefit from his bonus). As of The Hammers & The Herdstones update Ghorst's unique poison is now more powerful than the generic poison, having a much greater effect on all stats, especially speed.
- He has a unique variant of the Raise Dead Spell which summons Grave Guards instead of Zombies and a Wight King instead of Skeleton Warriors when overcast. He also has a unique version of the Corpse Cart mount that includes the Mortis Engine's Reliquary Corruption ability, giving him an aura of damage when in melee. While Ghorst does not have strong melee stats, he is reasonably durable, so it is an option to put him into melee against lower tier units where his aura can do damage.
- Also worth noting is that in multiplayer, Ghorst is the same cost as a generic Master Necromancer on a Corpse Cart (Unholy Lodestone) mount, while having much better combat ability and the added aura effect.
Gallery[ | ]
Concept art
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